Caraunus

Caraunus, also called Caranus or Chéron, is a saint venerated at Chartres in France. He is commemorated on 28 May in the Western calendar (new style). Tradition makes him a deacon and missionary in Gaul, killed by robbers on the road between Ablis and Chartres. His date is uncertain: one account places him in the 1st century under Domitian, another in the 5th century.

According to the 5th-⁠century story he was born into a Christian family of Gaul, gave his goods to the poor, lived as a hermit and was ordained deacon. He then preached around Chartres, and the robbers, finding nothing of value on him, killed him. He was buried nearby, and a church and a monastery rose over the grave, around which the town of Saint-⁠Chéron grew.

His Latin life, from the 9th century, is judged by scholars to be a tale without historical value, but the cult is old. His memory entered the Martyrology of Usuard and from it the Roman Martyrology. His relics were moved to Chartres in 1849. He is a saint of the undivided Church, venerated in the West.